The bar chart illustrates the number of imprisonments in five nations from 1930 to 1980.
Overall, while the number of people who were put behind bars in the US and Great Britain followed upward trends over the years, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand decreased by varying degrees. Notably, Canada and the United States had the highest figures of prisoners, with the latter’s figure topping towards the end of the period.
Regarding the number of individuals who were incarcerated in the US and Canada, the former had 20 thousand fewer prisoners than the latter, at 120 and 100 thousand prisoners in the initial year. However, between 1940 and 1950, the imprisonment figures in both countries took turns surpassing each other in securing the first position. From the year 1960 onwards, the US consistently maintained its first place, becoming the nation with the highest prisoner counts. Meanwhile, despite Canada’s prisoner numbers, they dropped significantly in 1960. Then, before making a slight recovery to 85 thousand prisoners in the final year, its figures hit a nadir in 1970.
Turning to Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, where there are fewer prisoner incarcerations. With New Zealand steadily leading the lower-ranking group, in the first year, New Zealand’s prisoner numbers matched those of the US at 100,000 inmates, followed by Australia and Great Britain with large disparities, at around 65,000 and 25,000 inmates respectively. Three decades later, the number of prisoners in these countries plummeted considerably, sharing a similar trend to the first year. Notably, in 1970, the figures showed that all three countries had roughly equal numbers of prisoners at around 65,000 inmates. In the final year, New Zealand and Great Britain maintained their significant upward trend, with Great Britain showing a threefold increase compared to the first year, as Australiasaw a substantial decrease in incarceration to around 43,000 prisoners.